Asetek, which manufactures closed-loop liquid cooling solutions that are re-branded by several companies, filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Cooler Master alleging infringement of multiple patents held by Asetek. Cooler Master's recently launched Seidon line of closed-loop liquid CPU coolers are points of contention for Asetek, as it claims the products infringe upon patent numbers 8,240,362 and 8,245,764, held by the company.

Seidon 120M and 240M may have been launched late January 2013, but had been pictured much earlier, in September. Ahead of its launch, Asetek claims it had contacted Cooler Master with a cease-and-desist order, but it claims the latter didn't respond satisfactorily, going ahead with the launch. The case (Civil Action No. 3:13-cv-00457-JSC) will now be heard by a US Court. Cooler Master's defense could stress on the point the essential design of a CPU liquid cooler hasn't changed for decades. Other liquid cooling makers, which aren't particularly as big as Asetek (which sells liquid cooling solutions to even the server and defense industries), will be closely following the case.

The problem is that with the patent system we impede progress by creating monopolies that last for far too long. And while in this case it seems that there is no case of prior art, generally speaking too many patents are awarded for which there is an obvious case of prior art or no real innovation.

Imo patents should grant much shorter periods of exclusive rights, and they should be dealt with (hugely) more quickly by the patent office. In addition, there should be stricter grounds on what they can be given for. I don't think that in this age of information availability that would be too hard to do.

Obviously you are right, there would be next to no innovation, but every once in a while we'd see someone come up with something. There would be far less people and companies willing to put any effort or money into coming up with new idea if they knew that someone could just use the idea menaing they wouldn't make any money back.

I don't believe 14 years(7 for drugs) is too long for a patent to last. Any shorter than that and the companies are likely to make their money back on a lot of their products they design, and hence aren't likely to put any money into research and development.

tokyoduong said:What is with this hate for the US. The Euro Union as a whole has much more problems than the US as a whole.
The only other nation that is worth comparing to is China which has way more problems than the US ever did.

The only problematic thing here is a country named US. Not EU (which is not a country to compare off) or China who has no such things !!

Innovation doesnt come from an invented piece of LAW (which a patent is after all) but from GENIUS people around the world !

Heck where was this patent system of yours when China invented hundreds of things (gunpowder, printer, paper etc.) or Iran (persians) with their windmill, modern brick, even icecream that u eat everyday probably, and lots of others.

Back then the secrecy behind each invention was protection enough, not to mention restricted access to materials an machinery. Nowadays everybody has access to everything so you can't rely on obscurity to protect your inventions.

BTW the next time you come up with a profitable idea you could come here and share it with us. :toast:

valentyn0 said:The only problematic thing here is a country named US. Not EU (which is not a country to compare off) or China who has no such things !!

Innovation doesnt come from an invented piece of LAW (which a patent is after all) but from GENIUS people around the world !

Heck where was this patent system of yours when China invented hundreds of things (gunpowder, printer, paper etc.) or Iran (persians) with their windmill, modern brick, even icecream that u eat everyday probably, and lots of others.

Yeah, China fought wars and slaughter anyone that tried to leave the country with their inventions to protect its inventions. That is definitely a lot better than having a patent system.

And the EU's set of laws are total horse shit, they are so bad they even go as far as to tell someone what they can and can't name their own product. It is ridiculous.

newtekie1 said:Yeah, China fought wars and slaughter anyone that tried to leave the country with their inventions to protect its inventions. That is definitely a lot better than having a patent system.

And the EU's set of laws are total horse shit, they are so bad they even go as far as to tell someone what they can and can't name their own product. It is ridiculous.

What the hell? Where do u get all this (dis)info? Seriously stop spreading lies.
About Europe, another big BS lie, i actually live in EU, u dont and dont talk about ridiculous laws when US and it's 50 states that some of 'em have so many laws concercing aspects of the private human behaviour that's so retarded u would think who made these into law! U can actually find 'em on google. Pretty much sure most countries from EU, altouhg have different sets of law, all have the same goal.

jmcslob said:So they are suing over the water block pump?
Next Lawsuit I see is Aquatop suing Asetek....

Aquatop make submersible closed loop aquarium heaters that gently disperse heat in aquariums and they are pretty much the same dammed thing LOL...

1) Can you buy one of those Aquatop units and, without modification, use it to cool your CPU?
2) Does the Aquatop patent claims that it can be used to cool CPUs?
Unless the answer to both questions is Yes then Aquatop can't touch Asetek.

People, remember that what the patent protects is specified in the claims. You can't just read the title ("Cooling system for a computer system") and assume that Asetek is patenting all the cooling systems. I can assure you that there are thousands of patents by several entities that are named "Cooling system for a computer system".